.,-,.•. . -•. ".. "•;•'• ,.,''; f iH LIBRARY OF THK UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. RECEIVED BY EXCHANGE Class PRESENTED THE BRITISH MUSEUM. V 1 ,:• ' : -..- • . .•' .••-• • . : - • -,-. ' . -• ., .-^.'- .'--' ^H n i H • -.-.. ....•_• ;-.' '.:--:' "-• 2 , Ml I . - •;•- -•""' •.•;-' ;•; ":•-.;. : ma •• •,,••.'•• • •• -::: i v. ;.;•:•-; ; ^^H 1 1 - . $$s : 1 ' , : ' NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION 1901-1904 NATURAL HISTORY VOL. II. ZOOLOGY (VERTEBRATA: MOLLUSCA : CRUSTACEA) i HE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON : PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 1907 (All Rights Reserved) SOLD BY LONGMANS AND Co., 39 PATERNOSTER Row, E.G. ; BERNARD QUARITCH, 15 PICCADILLY, W. ; DULAU AND Co., 37 SOHO SQUARE, W. ; AND AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY), CROMWELL ROAD, LONDON, S.W. PREFACE. WHEN, in 1901, the Expedition of the S.S. 'Discovery,' under Captain Scott, R.N., was sent to the Antarctic Regions, the Trustees of the British Museum gave their assistance to this national enterprise by allowing the cases containing the natural history specimens which might be obtained by the Expedition to be sent to the Natural History Museum for unpacking and sorting. They further undertook to publish a detailed report on the collections so obtained, under the superintendence of the Director of the Natural History Departments. Some of the most important collections have been dealt with by naturalists who were 'members of the Expedition. Thus, the Mammals and Birds are described by Dr. Edward A. Wilson, the Isopoda and Pycnogonida by Mr. T. V. Hodgson, and the Rocks (in relation to Field Geology) by Mr. H. T. Ferrar. Other groups have been dealt with by members of the staff of the Natural History Departments of the British Museum : Mr. Boulenger describes the Fishes ; Mr. E. A. Smith, the Gastropoda, Lamellibranchia, and Brachiopoda ; Mr. Jeffrey Bell, the Echinoderma ; Dr. Caiman, the Crustacea Decapoda, and the Cumacea ; Mr. Kirkpatrick, the non- calcareous Sponges ; whilst Mr. G. T. Prior has prepared a petrographical description of the Rock-specimens. It has been necessary to obtain the assistance of other specialists in order to deal with the rest of the collections. So far as the latter group of contributors is concerned, the following is a list of the subject-matters, together with the name of the naturalist who has undertaken the work in each case :— EMBRYOS OF SEALS ..... DR. MARRETT TIMS. ANATOMY OF EMPEROR PENGUIN . . . MR. W. P. PYCRAFT. TUNICATA . . . . . . . PROF. HERDMAN. CEPHALODISCUS ...... DR. RIDEWOOD. CEPHALOPODA ...... DR. HOYLE. NUDIBRANCHS AND PTEROPODS . . . SlR CHARLES ELIOT, K.C.M.G. POLYZOA MR. H. W. BURROWS. EGGS AND YOUNG OF ASTERIAS . . . PROF. MACBRIDE. AMPHIPODA MR. A. 0. WALKER. SCHIZOPODA ...... MR. HOLT. NEBALI.E DR. J. THIELE. OSTRACODA PROF. BRADY. COPEPODA . DR. WOLFENDEN. 164170 iv PREFACE. CIRRIPEDIA PROF. GRUVEL. MYZOSTOMA PROF. v. GRAFF. ACARI DR. TROUESSART. COLLEMBOLA PROF. CARPENTER. POLYCH^ETA ...... PROF. EHLERS. GEPHYR^A ...... MR. A. E. SHIPLEY. CH^TOGNATHA ...... DR. FOWLER. NEMERTINES . . . . . . PROF. HUBRECHT. FREE PLATYHELMINTHES .... MR. F. F. LAIDLAW. CESTODA ....... MR. A. E. SHIPLEY. NEMATODA ...... DR. v. LINSTOW. ZOANTHARIA . . . ... . MR. CLUBB. ALCYONARIA AND PENNATULIDA . . . PROF. HICKSON. HYDROMEDUS.E ...... MR. E. T. BROWN. CALCAREOUS SPONGES ..... MR. FREWEN JENKIN. EADIOLARIA ...... MR. LEWIS H. GOUGH. MOSSES ....... M. JULES CARDOT. LICHENS ....... MR. DARBISHIRE. (MARINE) ...... MRS. GEPP. (FRESH-WATER) ..... DR. FRITSCH. (CALCAREOUS) ..... DR. FOSLIE. PHYTOPLANKTON . . . . . DR. LEWIS H. GOUGH. The work of securing the assistance of these specialists and of distributing the collections has been performed by Mr. Jeffrey Bell, of the Zoological Department, who has also acted as sub-editor of the Zoological and Botanical portions of the reports. The Keeper of Minerals, Mr. Fletcher, has superintended the reports in the subjects belonging to his department. The Director desires to acknowledge the ability and energy which have been brought to bear on the preparation of the Zoological reports by Mr. Jeffrey Bell. Owing to his care, the reports have been got ready by the various contributors and published within a reasonable time after the return of the ' Discovery ' from the Antarctic Regions. Neither trouble nor expense has been spared in order to render the illustration and presentation of the Natural History of the Expedition worthy of the generous efforts both of Captain Scott and his fellow-explorers and of those who provided the funds for that enterprise. E. RAY LANKESTER. October, 1906. PREFACE TO VOLUME II. THE chief part of the present volume is Dr. Wilson's beautifully illustrated report on the Birds and Mammals, giving his personal experiences during the Expedition, as well as the results of subsequent study of the collections. This Expedition was the first to discover a nesting colony of the Emperor Penguin. All the other collections of vertebrates made during the Expedition are here reported on, with the exception of the embryos of seals and the pelagic fishes, which will be dealt with later. The investigation into the development of the feathers of the penguin raises several points of great morphological significance. The collection of fishes is small, but interesting. The discovery of two new species of Cephalodiscus, the presence of which in the collection was first noticed by Prof. Ray Lankester, has been made the basis of an important contribution to our knowledge of the small group to which it belongs. All the Mollusca collected by the ' Discovery,' except the " Pteropoda," are reported on ; the Brachiopoda were but poorly represented. As Dr. Caiman's reports on two divisions of Crustacea have been a very long time in type, it was decided to publish them as soon as possible. Several reports have already been printed for the third volume, which will probably appear early next year. F. JEFFREY BELL. December 3, 1906. TABLE OF CONTENTS. VERTEBRATE I. — MAMMALIA (Whales and Seals). By EDWARD A. WILSON, M.B. (66 pp., 5 Pis.) II.— AVES. By EDWARD A. WILSON, M.B. . (118 pp., 13 Pis.) III.— ON SOME POINTS IN THE ANATOMY OF THE EMPEROR AND ADELIE PENGUINS. By W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S. . . (36 pp., 1 PI.) IV. — PISCES. By G. A. BOULENGER, F.R.S. . . . (5 pp., 2 Pis.) PTEROBRANCHIA. CEPHALODISCUS. By W. G. RIDEWOOD, D.Sc., Lecturer on Biology at St. Mary's Medical School, University of London. (67 pp., 7 Pis.) MOLLUSCA. I.— CEPHALOPODA. By W. E. HOYLE, D.Sc., M.A., Keeper of the University Museum, Manchester. . . . . (2 pp.) II.— GASTROPODA. By EDGAR A. SMITH, I.S.O., Assistant Keeper, Zoological Department. . . . . . (12 pp., 2 Pis.) III.— AMPHINEURA. By the same (l p., 1 PI.) IV.— NUDIBRANCHIATA. By Sir CHARLES ELIOT, K.C.M.G., LL.D., Vice- Chancellor of the University, Sheffield. . . (28 pp., 1 PL) V.— LAMELLIBRANCHIATA. By EDGAR A. SMITH, I.S.O.. (7 pp., 2 Pis.) BRACHIOPODA. By EDGAR A. SMITH, I.S.O (2 pp.) CRUSTACEA. L— DECAPODA. By W. T. CALMAN, D.Sc., Assistant, Zoological Depart- ment (7 pp.) II. — CUMACEA. By the same (6 pp., 1 PI.) VOL. II. INTBODUCTION TO THE BE POET ON MAMMALS AND BIEDS. THE collection of Mammals and Birds which forms the basis of my Report was made on board the 'Discovery,' and the 'Morning' in the Southern Seas, between 1901 and 1904. For the 'Discovery' collections I am responsible myself; the 'Morning' collections were made by Dr. Gr. A. Davidson during two voyages of relief to us under Captain Colbeck in 1902 and 1903. It is not necessary for me to write at length upon the circumstances under which our voyage was made. Its history is to be found in detail in Captain Scott's narrative (The Voyage of the ' Discovery,' 2 vols., London, 1905). What we who were members of the Expedition owe to Sir Clements Markham, and what we owe to all who interested themselves, as he did, in our work and in our welfare, is there told in a way which leaves little for me to add. We agree with every word of it. But with regard to Captain Scott himself there is a point to be mentioned which finds no place in his book, namely, the untiring interest that he took in the scientific work of those who were placed under his command. Where opportunities must be made and taken at the right moment, it speaks well for the Commander if they are not often missed ; and I can say, for my own part, that although a failure to seize opportunities sometimes happened, it was not once due to any lack of sympathy on his part. It is to the interest and goodwill that he showed in all our work that such results as we have been able to collect are very largely due. But, indeed, there was not one of the naval officers who did not constantly go out of his way to help us by observation, or by practical and often heavy and unpleasant labour; and, if I mention Eng.-Lieut. Skelton as having given me personally the most useful help of all, first as a photographer, and then as a keen sportsman and collector, it does not mean that the others were less generous. I owe much to Mr. Hodgson, who, in my absence on various sledge journeys voluntarily made it his duty to carry on my work ; and to Lieut. Royds, who took a very practical part in the collection of facts and observations. x INTRODUCTION. I am greatly indebted to Mr. Jacob Cross (First Class Petty Officer, R.N.), who made himself acquainted with my work, and gave up much of his spare time to help in it. As a skinner of seals and penguins he had no equal on the ship, and soon surpassed his teacher. Although the majority of the photographs used in these reports were taken, as I have said, by Lieut. Skelton, I have also used photographs by other members of the Expedition, and for these I express my thanks to them, while I acknowledge their names in the " List of Illustrations." The coloured plates are from drawings by myself, as are the other illustrations in black-and-white, with one exception, namely Plate III. of the Seals, which has been reproduced from drawings by Mr. Engel Terzi. While acknowledging with real gratitude the time and attention that my proofs have received from Captain G. E. H. Barrett Hamilton, who has looked over the Eeport upon the Seals, and from Mr. Eagle Clarke and Mr. Pycraft, who have both been good enough to revise the Birds, I must at the same time take full responsibility for the errors and shortcomings that may be found in them. My sincere thanks are due to Dr. Bowdler Sharpe and Mr. Oldfield Thomas for the facilities given to me while at work in their respective departments, and to Mr. Jeffrey Bell, as General Editor, for much kindly help and many excellent suggestions. EDWARD A. WILSON. Westal, Cheltenham. January 2nd, 1907. ILLUSTEATIONS IN THE REPOBT ON THE MAMMALS. I. An Unnamed Whale. COLOURED PLATES. WHALES. SEALS. I. An adult Weddell's Seal with its young. II. The heads of the four common Antarctic Seals —Leplonyehotes weddelli, Stenarhinchua leplonyx, Lobodon carcinophogus, and Ommatop/wra rossi. III. Parts of the jaws of an old Weddell's Seal, with worn teeth. IV. Adult female and young of Hooker's Sea Lion, in the Auckland Islands. FIGURES IN TEXT. FIG. 1. Balamoptcra musciilits . ,. 2. Neobalaena marginata „ ?>. Hyperoodon restrains „ 4. Orca gladiator rising to blow . „ r>. Orca gladiator rising to blow . „ fi. Orca gladiator „ 7. An Unnamed Dolphin . „ 8. Weddell's Seal, adult female . „ !). Weddell's Seal, adult female . „ 10. A rookery of Weddell's Seals . „ 11. Weddell's Seal at its blow-hole . „ 12. Weddell's Seal and young just born . „ 13. Weddell's Seal and young „ 14. Weddell's Seal and young „ 15. Weddell's Seal suckling its young . „ 16. Young Weddell's Seal, just born „ 17. Young Weddell's Seal, just born „ 18. Young Weddell's Seal, ten days old . „ in. Young Weddell's Seal, moulting From a drawing Inj E. Wilson E. Wilson „ E. Wilson From a photograph by R. Ford „ E. Shackleton From a drawing ly E. Wilson E. Wilson From a photograph ly R. Skelton „ R. Skelton „ E. Shackleton R. Skelton R. Skelton R. Ford „ R. Skelton ,. R. Skelton „ R. Skelton i< L. Bernacchi R. Ford R. Skelton To face p. 4 4 . „ 4 G 6 8 8 12 12 14 14 16 16 18 18 20 20 22 22 Xll A. E. WILSON. FIG. 20. Young Weddell's Seal, two months old „ 21. Weddell's Seal, adult „ 2lA. Adult Weddell's Seal travelling on ice „ 2lB. Young Weddell's Seal in the first week „ 22. Head of adult Sea Leopard „ 23. Adult Crab-eating Seal . „ 24. Head of adult Crab -eating Seal „ 25. Domed Blow-hole of Weddell's Seal . „ 26. Scars in skin of Crab-eating Seal „ 27. Ross' Seal, adult . „ 28. Ross' Seal, adult .... „ 29. Ross' Seal, adult .... „ 30. Young male Sea Elephant, Macquarie Islands „ 31. Hooker's Sea Lion, Auckland Islands ., 32. Hooker's Sea Lion, Auckland Islands „ 33. Hooker's Sea Lion, Auckland Islands „ 34. Hooker's Sea Lion, Auckland Islands From a photograph l>/ R. Ford To fare p. 24 „ L. Bernacchi ,, 24 2fi „ 26 28 „ 32 32 38 „ R. Skelton R. Ford R, Skelton „ R. Skelton „ R. Skelton From a drawing ly E. Wilson „ E. Wilson „ . 38 From a photograph ly R. Skelton „ 44 R. Skelton „ 44 R. Skelton „ 44 „ R, Skelton „ 52 R. Ford „ CO R. Ford „ CO „ Mr. McGregor Wright „ 64 „ Mr. McGregor Wright „ C4 ILLUSTEATIONS IN THE BEPOET ON THE BIRDS. COLOURED PLATES. I. View of the Emperor Penguin Rookery at Cape Crozier. II. Head of an adult Emperor Penguin. III. Heads of young Emperor Penguins at various stages of immaturity. IV. One of the Emperor Penguin chickens picked up frozen at Cape Crozier. V. The feet of Emperor Penguins, young and old. VI. Eggs of the Emperor Penguin. VII. Eggs of the Emperor Penguin. VIII. Heads of the King Penguin, young and old. IX. Heads of the Ade'lie Penguin, young and old. X. The feet of the Ade'lie Penguin, young and old. XI. Heads of adult and immature Royal Penguins ; and the head of a Great Penguin. XII. Heads of McCormick's Skua, young and old. XIII. Feet and legs of McCormick's Skua at various ages. o FIGURES IN TEXT. FIG . 1 . Rookery of Emperor Penguins at Cape Crozier From a photograph by C. Royds To face p. 1 „ 2. Rookery of Emperor Penguins at Cape Crozier „ R. Skelton 1 „ 3. Emperor Penguins . . „ C. Royds „ 4 „ 4. Emperor Penguins . „ R. Skelton n 4 „ 5. Emperor Penguin Rookery at Cape Crozier. „ R. Skelton „ 8 „ G. Emperor Penguins beginning to moult . „ T. Hodgson „ 12 „ 7. Emperor Penguins in full moult . . „ R. Skelton „ 12 „ 8. Emperor Penguin and chick . R. Skelton „ 14 „ 0. Emperor Penguin and chick .... „ E.Wilson „ 1G „ 10. Emperor Penguin and chick ... „ R. Skelton „ 16 „ 11. Emperor Penguins toboganuing . . „ C. Royds 18 „ 12. Emperor Penguin walking ... „ C. Royds „ 18 „ 13. Rookery of Emperor Penguins at Cape Crozier „ E.Wilson „ 22 XIV A. E. WILSON. FIG. 14. Emperor Penguin sleeping „ 15. Emperor Penguin moulting „ 16. Emperor Penguin chick taking its food „ 17. Emperor Penguin clucks. „ 18. Emperor Penguin chick .... „ 19. Emperor Penguin chick, sleeping „ 20. Emperor Penguin chick, sleeping „ 21. Emperor Penguin chick, crowing „ 22. Emperor Penguin chick, piping for food . „ 23. Frozen Emperor Penguin chicks .and eggs . „ 24. Eggs of the Emperor, King, and Adelie Penguins ...... ,, 25. King Penguins on Macquarie Island. „ 26. Kookery of King Penguins on Macquarie Island ...... „ 27. Adelie Penguins ..... „ 28. Adelie Penguins on the run „ 29. Adelie Penguin rookery at Cape Adare „ 30. Adelie Penguins' nursery at Cape Adare „ 31. Adelie Penguins' pathway up the hills „ 32. Adelie Penguins' rookery at Cape Adare . „ 33. Adelie Penguins, clean .... „ 34. Adelie Penguins, dirty .... „ 35. Adelie Penguins, nesting at Cape Crozier . „ 36. Adelie Penguins, changing places on the nest ....... „ 37. Adelie Penguin chickens, beginning to moult „ 38. Adelie Penguin and young on the nest „ 39. The ecstatic attitude of the Adelie Penguin „ 40. Marks made in snow by McCormick's Skua „ 41. McCorinick's Skua. .... „ 42. McCormick's Skuas bathing in a thaw pool . „ 43. Footprints of the Giant Petrel . „ 44. A group of Black-browed Albatrosses „ 45. Head of Broad-billed Whale Bird . „ 46. Moulted feathers of Gull and Curlew From a drawing by E. Wilson To face p. 22 „ E. Wilson 22 From a photograph by R. Skelton 24 „ R. Skelton 24 From a drawing by E. Wilson 26 „ E. Wilson 26 „ E. Wilson 26 „ E. Wilson 28 „ E. Wilson 28 From a photograph by R. Skelton 30 n R. Skelton 30 •> R. Skelton 30 R. Skelton 34 „ R. Skelton 38 „ R.. Skelton 38 „ E. Shackleton „ 40 „ R. Skelton „ 40 „ E. Shackleton 42 „ R. Skelton 42 „ C. Royds 46 „ R. Skelton 46 - C. Royds 48 C. Royds 48 „ L. Bernacchi 52 „ R. Ford 52 From a drawing by E. AVilson 56 „ E. Wilson 56 From a photograph by R. Ford 68 5! R. Ford 68 „ R. Skeltou 94 n R. Skelton 94 From a drawing by E. Wilson ., 104 11 E. Wilson 104 I. MAMMALIA. By EDWARD A. WILSON, M.B. CETACEA. (1 Plate.) ALTHOUGH there are no land mammals of any kind at present known to exist in the Antarctic, there is an amphibious and marine mammalian fauna in the ice-covered waters of the region, comprising an unexpected number of species, both of Seals and Whales. In the case of the Whales it would be hard to say how many different species are to be assigned to the Ross Sea alone. But so far as our own observations go, we can differentiate, though we cannot as yet name, at least six or seven that are distinct from one another. BAL^NA AUSTRALIA * The Southern Right Whale. Balcena australis, Desmoulins, Diet. Class. d'Hist. Nat., ii. (1822), p. 161 ; Flower, List Cetacea B. M., (1885), p. 2 ; Hutton and Drummond, Animals of New Zealand (1904), p. 42. It seems more than doubtful whether this whale has ever frequented the ice- covered seas of the Antarctic area, but if it has, it is now quite certain that it has either changed its summer haunts from the Ross Sea, where Sir James Ross reported its existence in the forties of the last century, or has become so reduced in numbers as to be practically on the verge of extinction. Many whalers have journeyed in search of this whale to those very seas, and the remarks which are quoted below form the only evidence of its existence there at the present time. Captain Larsen, in an account of the voyage of the ' Jason,' has given some of his experiences, but beyond saying : " We have had a boat out .... in the hope of finding Rethvalen," and " the mate saw three more spouts, and he could only ascertain that one was from a Rethval .... but did not see the whale again," he gives no other indication of its existence. He was at the time in about 67° S. lat., 61° W. long. Mr. Bull during his cruise in the 'Antarctic ' (1894-5) saw no sign of a Right Whale farther south than the Campbell Islands, though many, he says, were seen in that neighbourhood during May and June, and " plenty" were killed much farther north at the Kermadec Islands during the preceding winter months. On June 29th, off the Campbell Islands, they were seen in pairs and in large schools, but few were seen after this date, and none at the Auckland Islands, where the ship next went. Captain Jensen (1898-1900) too has killed the whale off the Campbell Islands, but has not seen one in VOL. II. JJ 2 EDWARD A. WILSON. the Southern ice. And lastly, Mr. Bruce and Dr. Donald, who accompanied the ' Dundee Whalers ' in 1892, have only to report its total absence. There has always been much discussion upon the report made by Sir James Ross in 1840, that "Right Whales" were exceedingly abundant in the waters of Ross Sea. But although his report has been fully tested, and much criticism applied to it by various explorers, and although whaling captains have hunted the area in question unsuccessfully, it would nevertheless be wrong to dismiss the report as having been founded upon error, when we consider that it was made by persons who had had more practical opportunities of becoming familiar with the Right Whale than have the majority of naturalists of the present day. By the " Right Whale " in his report, Sir James Ross certainly meant the Balsena australis, a whale which runs as a rule in pairs or singly, and is upwards of 50 to 70 feet in length. Its spout is double, one jet passing to each side upwards and forwards, but neither as high as the spout of the Rorqual. It is said to frequent the seas of the South, where it can find discoloured water of shallow depth. There it has been hunted almost to extermination by a method, the employment of which affords a very sufficient explanation, as it seems to me, of its disappearance. - One has but to refer to any account of the South Sea Right Whale fishing industry to learn how first an active look-out was kept upon the bays where this whale was wont to come to calve, and how, secondly, the hunt began with the destruction of the calf, not because it was of value in itself, but because it was known that the mother would then become an easy prey, as she would not leave the bay without her suckling. This is, perhaps, the most complete and rapid method of exterminating an animal that has ever been adopted, and in the case of the Southern Right Whale it seems to have been only too successful. In the library of the Royal Geographical Society is to be found a short manuscript note by " Whalebone," one of those, I believe, who accompanied the ' Dundee Whalers,' and in it are given a series of rough sketches which indicate methods of identifying the various whales of the Antarctic seas at a distance. In this note it is evident that " Whalebone " was convinced that Ross had mistaken a Rorqual, or a Finner Whale for a Right Whale, and his conclusions appear to be based upon an observation, which we were able to confirm, namely, that the Rorqual shows its fin only some few seconds after finishing its blow. This is a point to which I shall again refer below. The Right Whale, in this manuscript by " Whalebone," is depicted, as usual, with no fin at all, with a double " spout," and a note to the effect that it blows at regular intervals. Sir James Ross may, of course, have been mistaken, but he based his report apparently less on his own experience than on that of some of his crew Avho had been engaged in whaling cruises, and as this particular whale was at one lime abundant in the Southern oceans, breeding freely off the coasts of South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia, there would seem to be no primd facie reason to doubt that at certain seasons of the year it made its way to the Southern ice, as the similar Northern THE SOUTHERN RIGHT WHALE. 3 form makes its way to the ice of the Northern seas in summer. From May to August, we are told, the females of Balcena australis visit the Continental coasts to calve. The males are seldom caught, as they rarely approach the land. From October to May, on the other hand, the chief whaling ground lies between the Chatham and Norfolk Islands. It is therefore during the Southern summer months that one may expect to find them wandering southward to the ice ; and it was in January, at the height of the Antarctic summer, that Sir James Ross was cruising in these Southern seas. However, the fact remains that, since the days of Sir James Eoss, not one of these whales has been quite certainly seen there, and if the Right Whale still visits Ross Sea, it is certain that it no longer does so in anything approaching the numbers that were wont to come. We ourselves, in the ' Discovery,' saw not one. Mr. Bennett, in his "Narrative of a Whaling Voyage Round the Globe " (1833-36), gives the following details of the species. He says that the barnacles which habitually find a footing on it, incrusting it like rugged rock, do so on account of its sluggish habits in the shallow seas. While at the surface, he says, it spouts regularly every ten or fifteen seconds ; the spout is from 6 to 8 feet high, and is emitted obliquely upwards and forwards. At each spout the nose comes high out of the water, and there is no inspiratory drawback as in other whales, the spout terminating abruptly, so that it can be recognised by ear even in the dark. In June and July, he says that pregnant females are to be found in South African bays, and in September mother and calf go out to sea. BAL^NOPTERA MUSCULUS. The Rorqual or Firmer. Balmwptera musculus, Linn., Syst. Nat. i. p. 106 (17G6) ; Flower, op. cit., p. 5. Physalus australis, Desmoulins, Diet. Class. d'Hist. Nat., ii. (1822), p. 106 ; Hector, Trans. Wellington Phil. Soc., 1878, p. 336. The most striking, perhaps, of all the Antarctic whales both for its abundance, its size, and for the great height of its vertical " spout," is the common Rorqual or Finner, which is said to reach a length of from 70 to 80 feet. It is distinctive also for other reasons. While the ' Discovery ' was cruising in Ross Sea we used to watch this huge whale come to the surface again and again to blow, at intervals of 30 to 40 seconds, and from the fact that at each of four or five appearances uo vestige of a dorsal fin was visible, we began to wonder whether we had not found the " Right Whale " that was once reported to be so abundant in Ross Sea. Again and again the " spout " went up into the cold air, a white twelve-foot column of condensed moisture, followed by a smooth broad back, and yet no fin. For some time we remained uncertain as to its identity, till at last in " sounding " for a longer disappearance and a greater depth than usual, the hinder third of the enormous beast appeared above the surface for the first time with its little angular dorsal fin, at once dispelling any doubts we might 4 EDWARD A. WILSON. have had. We saw a very large number of these whales, sometimes alone, sometimes in pairs, and sometimes in much greater numbers. On March 2nd and 4th, 1904, when off Cape North and the Balleny Islands, we saw so many together that we could generally count half-a-dozen spouts at once. Many were then in a sportive mood and, in rolling over, showed some yellowish white on the under parts. Some, too, were bellowing, and the noise of the blow was constant, far and near. There is much variety in the shape of the dorsal " fin " and in the extent to which the back is humped behind it ; in Fig. 1 are given a number of outlines which were taken on the spot. The " fin " is always situated far back upon the posterior third of the animal's length. Some, too, have excrescences on the dorsal fin which probably consisted of barnacles, but this we did not observe in the icy seas, where all that we saw were free from anything of the kind. We saw a pair of these whales in Table Bay on our voyage out ; again a pair off the coast of New Zealand, but nowhere did we see them in numbers till we reached the ice. In Ross Sea they were abundant. If, as Sir James Hector suggested, there are really four species of Rorqual in the Southern Hemisphere, they are probably not easily to be distinguished at a distance. I must refer all that we saw to the one species only, though it is possible that they represented also the Southern form of Rorqual which has been given specific distinction under the title B. australis, the " Sulphur-Bottom " of Antarctic whalers. NEOBAL.ENA MARGINATA. The Australian Whale. Balcena marginata, Gray, Zool. Ereb. and Terr., (1846), p. 48. Neobalana marginata, id., Suppl. Cat. S. and W. (1871), p. 40 ; Flower, op. cit., p. 4 ; Hutton and Drummond, Animals of New Zealand (1904), p. 44. This whale, unless our identification is at fault, is also a common form in the Ross Sea, and is met with constantly wherever there is loose pack ice. It is a black or dark grey whale of from 20 to 30 feet in length, with a very rounded back, and a small hook-like dorsal fin which slopes well backwards. It appeared at the surface almost as it spouted, and as the head went under, the round back rolled up, showing its little dorsal fin, before it disappeared again. (See fig. 2.) As a rule this whale was solitary ; occasionally two or three, but never more, were seen together. It was always moving along in an orderly fashion, and never on any occasion disported itself, nor did it ever show more than the back and fin, as I have mentioned. AN UNDESCRIBED WHALE. (See Whales, Plate I.) Next must be mentioned a whale which Sir James Ross and McCormick have both mentioned as one " of large size, having an extremely long erect back fin," a C- Vu'.ulVi FiG.[l. Balainoplera muscuhis, see p. 3. FIG. 2. Neobalaina marginata, see p. 4. FIG. 3. Hyperoodon rostratus, see p. 5. To face p. 4. OF THE UNIVERSITY OF AN UNDESCRIBED WHALE. 5 description applied to a whale distinct from the Orca, which was spoken of always as a " piebald whale," or " a whale marked with white patches." This high-finned whale, however, of which I am now speaking, is without doubt an otherwise undescribed species, confined perhaps in its distribution to the Antarctic seas. On January 28th, 1902, we saw three together off Boss's Great Ice Barrier, and on February 8th, 1902, again four more of the same kind. They were all of them wholly black above, but had some white about the mouth or chin. In length they were from 20 to 30 feet. But the most striking characteristic about them was the disproportionate height of the dorsal fin, which was erect, pointed, and sabre- shaped, and stood, so far as we were able to judge, from three to four feet high. In all but one individual this fin curved slightly backwards, but in one the concavity of the curve was towards the head (see Whales, PL I., fig. 2a). The " spout" appeared simultaneously with the appearance of the tip of the fin, and the nose, which was square and blunt, came well out of the water immediately after (see Whales, PL I., fig. 1). As the head dipped under, the whole back and fin to its base was seen (see Whales, PL I., fig. 2). There is no possibility of mistaking this whale for another ; the length of the fin is approached only by the Orca, whose piebald colour affords an easy means of identification even at a distance. Its movements are also very much more slow and dignified than the rapid racing of a herd of Orca whales, and I have no hesitation in declaring it to be a new species of which no example has as yet been taken, though I cannot refer it to any known genus. HYPEROODON ROSTRATUS. Bottle-nosed Whale. Bakena roslrata, 0. F. Miiller, Zool. Dan. Prod. (1776), p. 7. Hyperoodon restrains, Flower, op. cit., p. 9. A whale yet remains to be mentioned which I identify nevertheless with much hesitation, as it is impossible to be confident without having had a specimen to examine. On February 25th, 1902, when the ice had broken back in McMurdo Sound to a point some miles farther South than our winter quarters, we were visited by a small herd of long-snouted black whales which made a great noise in blowing and splashing about at play. There were about six or eight together, and all were in a sportive mood, and one as we were watching " breached," leaping clear of the water, in this way showing himself full length and broadside on against the sky. The sketch which is given (see fig. 3) was made upon the spot. The animal was some 20 to 30 feet in length, and wholly black above and below. The dorsal fin was a mere excrescence. In shape, the whale was long and slim, with a very prominent forehead and well-marked beak. Others of a similar kind were reported as "Bottle-nosed Whales" by various officers of the relief ship ' Morning,' and these were seen at the edge of the fast ice in McMurdo Sound during February of 1903 and 1904. It seems, therefore, on the B 2 6 EDWARD A. WILSON. whole, to be a fairly abundant species in the summer months, frequenting the edges of the ice as it breaks back to its farthest point. During our voyage out we were accompanied on November 5th (S. lat. 48° and E. long. 100°) by a solitary male of this species, which was of the dull yellow colour that characterises the animal in old age. It measured about 20 feet in length, and was covered with the white hieroglyphic markings which are said to be produced by the arms and suckers of the cephalopods upon which this animal feeds. In this case, as the whale remained with us for upwards of half an hour, and almost rubbed its sides against the ship, we had ample opportunity for observing it closely and satisfying our- selves as to its identification. It is, however, known mainly as a Northern species which lives, not in the ice, but on its outskirts, and in this, the whales which we identified as Hyperoodon agreed, except that they were in the south and not the north. But if the whale is known to exist so far south as S. lat. 48°, there is every reason that it should follow the same instincts in the Southern Hemisphere that it follows in the Northern. It would then go south during the summer, keeping just at the margin of the ice, as we observed it to do in McMurdo Sound, and these facts, taken in conjunction with its occurrence in S. lat. 48°, makes me more certain that this is a species common to both Northern and Southern seas. It will be seen that the outline given (fig. 3) of the southern form is almost identical, except for a slight difference in the dorsal fin, with that of Hyperoodon rostratus as figured in Flower and Lydekker's " Mammals " ; but it will also be seen to agree even more precisely with the outline given by Sir James Hector of Berardius Arnuxii, see pi. xvi, in a paper delivered to the Wellington Philosophical Society, Jan. 12th, 1878. Whatever, therefore, may be the true identity of this whale, and without a capture it is impossible to say, I give the facts for what they are worth. It is, at any rate, of interest to know that such a whale is to be found in the southernmost waters of the Antarctic ; and we may hope that before long some expedition may interest itself in the capture of these doubtful species. OECA GLADIATOR. The Killer. Delphiaus orca, Linn., Syst. Nat. (1766), p. 108. Orca gladiator, Gray, Zool. Ereb. and Terr. (1846), p. 33 ; Flower, op. cit., p. 18 ; Huttou & Drummond, Animals of New Zealand (1904), p. 53. Turning now to the Dolphins, the largest of all, the Orca, or Killer, is very abundant, probably the most abundant, of all the Cetacea in the Southern seas. In Ross Sea, and particularly in McMurdo Sound, it was always to be seen— the first to arrive as the ice broke up — hunting along the cracks between the floes, and dowu the edges of the fast ice, for seals and penguins. Moving rapidly in large herds, sometimes amounting to a hundred, they were con- stantly rising to blow in the leads of open water (figs. 4 and 5). In length they were apparently from 15 to 20 feet ; in colour, a dirty grey above with a broad yellow-ochre- PIG. 4. Oca gladiator. Fia. 5. Oca gladiator. To face p. 6. THE KILLER. 7 coloured saddle on the back behind the dorsal fin ; there was a patch of paler buff behind the eye, and so far as could be seen, the under parts were also pale yellowish white. Often they followed close in under the ship's stern, disporting themselves like the smallest of the Dolphins; and in a herd that followed our ship on February 17th, 1904, we saw the young ones with their mothers. The young had not yet developed the yellow saddle, but its position was marked out as a dull grey patch in the darker colour of the back. The ear patch, however, was already distinct and of a yellow colour quite conspicuously marked. In the oldest, or at any rate the largest, the saddle is mainly ochreous yellow with an ill-defined anterior border which merges into the grey-black back. The posterior border on the other hand is well-defined. There is much variation in the size and general shape of the dorsal fin in this species, as may be gathered from the sketches given below (fig. 6), which were taken from the animals, as they sported round the ship, in McMurdo Sound. It is probable that some of these Killers remain always as far south as the periodical opening-up of the sea ice will allow them. They were with us in the autumn to the last days of open water in McMurdo Sound, and were again at once apparent when the ice broke up in the spring. Throughout the open part of the year, from the middle of September to the middle of March, we had schools of this whale in McMurdo Sound ; and, no doubt, we could have found them a little farther north in winter as often as the ice in Ross Sea was broken up by the southerly winter gales. For its diet in the south we have no actual evidence, but, regarding its alleged propensity for seals and penguins, there can be no possible doubt in my opinion that the scars and wounds inflicted on so many of the seals in the pack ice are the marks of wanton, or unsuccessful, attacks made on them by these whales. Such rents are exceedingly common, both as recently inflicted wounds and as mended scars, and the chief sufferers are the Lobodon Seals, which live habitually in the pack ice of the open sea, and not Weddell's Seals, which keep to the sheltered bights and bays along the coast-line or the cliffs of great ice barriers. An old Lobodon is but rarely to be found without some scars upon his coat ; and an idea of the extensive character of some of these wounds may be gathered from the account given below (see p. 39), and from the figure there given, which is taken from scars on one of the skins in our collection. The whole question of the probable causation of these scars being fully discussed in that chapter, I must refer my readers to it, and state here only that I have no doubt whatever in my own mind that the Killer is responsible for them. Penguins, also, in all probability pay heavy toll to these marauding bands, and from the excessive hurry in which they are often seen to leave the water when a herd of Killers is in sight, it is evident that they know their danger sufficiently well. Moreover, the repugnance they show to re-entering the water, even when chased by men or dogs upon the ice, is an additional proof that they know quite well where their customary danger lies, and that they feel it is safer to tackle an unknown and novel risk on the ice than to face what they know to be a certain danger in the water. 8 EDWARD A. WILSON. Weddell's Seals are by no means so liberally scarred by the Killer's teeth as are the Crab-eaters, and this results from the fact that they remain almost always some miles on the safer side of the ice-edge, and as far as possible from the open water. Here they are comfortably clear of the Killer Whales, which keep to the breaking edge of the fast ice, and the more or less open water of the pack. The Killer is heard to blow, and the spout is seen before the snout comes out of the water. They are generally moving at a rapid rate, and, as a rule, the whole head and back and dorsal fin come clear out of the water, after blowing, at every rise. They have the same habit of swimming in close proximity side by side that we have noticed also in the Rorqual. They may be travelling at a very fast rate, yet the pace is so uniform in each individual that they may appear fastened one to the other, each half a length in advance of its companion ; constantly appearing and disappearing in this manner they give the idea of a single animal with two dorsal fins, unless indeed they are so close that they can be separately distinguished. I cannot say what is the meaning of this habit either in the Rorqual or the Killer, but perhaps the young and the mother thus find an easy way of avoiding separation whilst making a passage from one district to another. The range of the Orca in the South, as we ourselves observed it, lies between S. lat. 30° in W. long. 30°, where the northernmost examples were found, and S. lat. 78° in E. long. 170° where we saw hundreds at the farthest point of open water to the South. But if, as seems to be the case, the Southern form is identical with the Northern, the range of Orca gladiator must be considered universal. That the Southern form is identical with the Northern appears evident from Sir James Hector's mention of two examples which were obtained in New Zealand, the first of which ran ashore in Lyell's Bay, while the second, which he says appears to be a fully adult example of Orca gladiator, was cast up on the beach at Wanganui. (Proc. Wellington Phil. Soc. 1880.) It has been reported also from the Seychelles (4° to 5° S. lat.), from the Cape of Good Hope, from the Northern Pacific, and from the English coast ; and if further testimony is wanted as to its ubiquity, it is to be found in Mr. Bennett's words : — " Whales thus designated appeared to us in small bands, and chiefly in the vicinity of the equator." ' LAGENORHYNCHUS OBSCURUS. The Dusky Dolphin. Delpliinus obscurus, Gray, Spic. Zool. (1828), p. 2. Lagenorhynchus obscurus, Blanford, Mamm. Brit. India (1888), p. 580, iUqm citato,.^ We saw the Dusky Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus), a well-known and unmistakable form, day after day playing round the ship in the Southern ocean. We saw also an allied and hitherto unrecognised species of equally characteristic * Bennett, " Whaling Voyage Bound the Globe," 1883 to 1836, ii., p. 239. t The date of Mr. True's paper is 1889. III. JV. FIG. 6. Oca gladiator (see p. 6). FIG. 7. AN UNNAMED DOLPHIN (see p. 9). To face p. 8. THE DUSKY DOLPHIN. 9 and constant marking, as described below. The distribution of these two Dolphins appears to overlap, and yet, though we had many schools of each from time to time around the ship, they never mingled. On November 14th and 15th in 1901, when we were between 55° and 60° S. lat. in 135° E. long., we had Dusky Dolphins round us, and were at the same time just outside the ice pack. But a few days later we lost them, and were joined by the other species, which we at once called the Hour-glass Dolphin from the peculiar and characteristic arrangement of its colouring. In this it somewhat resembles that of the Dusky Dolphin, yet is quite easily to be distinguished from it. AN UNDESCRIBED DOLPHIN. This new Dolphin is to be met in abundance in the outer zone of the Antarctic pack ice. We saw it on November 19th in about the same latitude in which we had seen Lagenorhyjichus obscurus four clays before, but farther to the east. We again saw numbers playing round the ship on December 29th, 30th and 31st, and on January 1st, the day before we actually sighted ice on our way to the South in 1902. Also in 1904, as we made our way to the North, on March 5th and 6th we had large schools of this same Dolphin round the bows of our ship, moving easily with us, though we were running at from 8 to 10 knots an hour. They are from 8 to 10 feet long, and strikingly marked with white and brown. The whole of the back, head, dorsal fin and tail is rich dark brown, as are also the under parts ; but there are on each side of the body two extensive patches of white which are separated from one another just below the dorsal fin by an isthmus of the brown which runs obliquely down and forwards, uniting the brown of the upper parts with the brown of the lower parts. In other words, the animal may be described as uniformly dark brown all over save for a broad white lateral band broken in the centre by a bridge of brown, but running otherwise from nose to tail and uniting above the tail. The dorsal fin, which is dark brown, is large in proportion to the size of the animal, and in most cases is falciform, often markedly crooked, almost to a right angle (fig. 7). Attempts were made with the harpoon to obtain an example of this Dolphin, but without success, and it remains for others to give a more detailed description than is possible at present from observations made only upon animals in active motion. This short and very insufficient account of the Whales and Dolphins observed during our cruise in Antarctic waters, though it throws little light upon their habits, may nevertheless be of use to some future observer. It is only with the object of pointing out that there are new and unknown species, apparently peculiar to the region, that I have thought it worth while to record our scanty observations. An expedition properly equipped for the capture and study of such animals would assuredly reap a harvest in the South. 10 EDWARD A. WILSON. PINNIPEDIA. (4 Plates.) LEPTONYCHOTES WEDDELLI. Weddell's Seal, or the False Sea-Leopard. (Plates I.-III.) Otaria weddellii, R. P. Lesson, in Fe'russac's Bull. Sci. Nat., vii. (1826), pp. 437-438. Leptonychotes iveddelli, Allen, N. Amer. Pinnip. (1880), p. 467 ; Barrett Hamilton, Rep. Mamm. ' Southern Cross ' Coll., 1902, p. 17, ibique citato* ; K. A. Andersson, Wiss. Ergeb. der Scliwed. Sudpolar-Exped., Bd. V. 2 (1905), pp. 3-11 ; Brown, Mossman, and Pirie, Voy. ' Scotia ' (1906), pp. 129, 227, 340 et alia. MATERIAL IN THE 'DISCOVERY' COLLECTION. No. 2, $ , juv. skin and skull. About three months old. Jan. 23, 1903. McMurdo Sound. No. 3, $ , ad. skin and skull. Moulting. Jan. 1902. Ross Sea. No. 4, $ , ad. skin and skull. Ready to moult. Jan. 1902. Ross Sea. No. 13, ad- skin and skull. Moulting. South Victoria Land. No. 54, ad. skin and skull. Moult just begun. Jan. 1902. South Victoria Land. No. 55, 9 , ad. skin and skull. Moult almost completed. Jan. 1902. South Victoria Land. No. 56,